The Terminator is Terminated: Survivor 47 Episode 10 Recap and Power Rankings
We’re back on track, folks. Episode 10 was a great 90 minutes of Survivor 47 that added to one of the more entertaining seasons of the New Era — in part because of its Old Era feel. We had a disliked “villain” go home at the end and deliver an Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque torch snuff moment that will either be iconic or infamous. Let’s get into it.
Just a Teeny tiny problem
The result of last week’s tribal council that saw Sol voted out of the game at the hands of Genevieve struck Teeny emotionally and personally. Genevieve tried to approach Teeny and bridge the gap, but it was largely unsuccessful. Teeny learned from Andy that it was Genevieve who was responsible for orchestrating the vote on Sol, and felt that Genevieve intended to embarrass her with the vote by not telling her.
Genevieve also said she doesn’t want any emotional connection with people in the game, but that her connection with Teeny is real and it hurt her to see how she upset Teeny.
They end the conversation with a weak patch-up of their relationship, but it’s obvious Teeny doesn’t and will not trust Genevieve again. As a matter of fact, it becomes clear later in the episode that not only will Teeny not trust Genevieve, but she will be gunning to get her off. Genevieve didn’t just lose a friend, she made an enemy.
Whatever you do, don’t analyze “the edit”
I don’t like to put all my stock in how certain players are edited, but there’s some things you just can’t ignore. Mainly, this avoidance is because the editors have control over what they’re showing you. They can trick you intentionally and lead you in the wrong direction as the viewer in order to build suspense or deliver a surprise. You might not be able to predict the exact winner, but after 10 episodes, there’s some things you’re allowed to read in on.
At this point, I’m confident in saying that Andy and Rachel are going to make it to the final episode. I’m sure now that I’ve actually said this there will be some double vote-off twist eliminating them both next week, but the signs are there.
Andy has been the feature since episode one. Survivor 47 has been his story. Sometimes it almost feels like we’re watching the game through his eyes. We see him connecting with people, making deals, and being told strategies that he’s not even a pivotal vote in. We don’t see others in those seemingly non-critical discussions. It forces you to ask: Why Andy? And there are two obvious answers. One, which I believe to be true, is he makes it to final tribal council and maybe even wins the whole thing. The other is that his crashout and subsequent vote off is so glorious that they need to build his story so that it has the right amount of payoff.
Rachel’s edit is less obvious, but she is following a very typical trajectory of underdog, shadowy power player that has the jury’s favor. We’re getting a lot of Rachel, and specifically her strategy and narration of her place in the game. That’s a good sign for her longevity.
Lisan al-Gabe
The castaways did their best Shai-Hulud impression at the reward challenge, squirming through the sand in teams of three with their wrists and ankles bound in order to push a ball over two hills and to a landing spot. After all three made it, they rolled the balls down a ramp and into a hole where the ball would settle. The first to have each of their members land their ball in the hole won.
Unsurprisingly, the team with Kyle, Sam, and Rachel won. They had two of the three most physical threats on their side, leaving the other teams with one and zero top athletes. They managed to land all three balls in their respective spots before any other team even had a chance to roll their first ball. It was dominant. Though, Jeff made sure to mention that Gabe made it through the sand faster than anyone — it was still too late to bring his squaw rounded out by Andy and Caroline.
We also got an awesome scene where Andy unhinged his mouth like a boa constrictor and bit the ball to throw it forward. Just pure Andy.
My main complaint here was Jeff said they had to use their head to move the ball, and Kyle immediately started primarily using his shoulder. Jeff did not correct this and so after Kyle everyone basically only used their shoulder. By the end, Sam was even using his elbow to push the ball. Good, physically-taxing challenge overall, though.
Turn and burn
During the reward and back at camp it came time for Tuku to turn on each other. Kyle threw out Gabe’s name, posing him as a threat despite being his friend. Sam and Rachel expressed their willingness to vote Gabe off while on the reward.
Back at the beach, Andy told Sue that Kyle calls her and Caroline “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.” This set Sue off and we got a hilarious montage of Sue saying how she wants to “kill” Kyle, how she doesn’t trust him, and how she hates him. We also got a golden quote: “How many times do we have to hear that he’s poor?” Jaw. Dropped.
Gabe also admits to his internal struggle of needing to vote Kyle off soon versus his very real relationship and friendship he’s built with Kyle.
It became evident there was a serious rift in Tuku, and that was going to be exploited soon. It wasn’t necessarily going to be this episode, but things were trending on implosion.
A needed character story
This is just a serious reflection of the time the episode spent on Teeny’s identity struggle in the game and in life. It was touching and needed — especially with the current discourse in the country. I appreciated the time that was spent on it, the understanding that separating the game from real life is extremely difficult, and telling Teeny’s struggle with the gender binary rather than shying away from it. It meant a lot to Teeny’s character and the reflection of their position in the game at the time. Thank you, CBS.
It’s time for some classic Survivor
The rice negotiation proved to be great this time. It wasn’t a knife in the side of the bag, but it was meaningful. While the castaways bartered with Jeff to avoid stepping out of the challenge, Kyle threw out the idea of trading all their shot in the darks for the bag of rice. Intrigued, Jeff accepted as long as everyone was on board.
Sam was put in a tough place, feeling on the bottom and not wanting to give up his shot. Gabe had a sales pitch about how his vote was more valuable than the one in six chance of immunity. Sam eventually gave in and gave it up for the tribe to get rice. Jeff asks Sam if Gabe convinced him and he says, “Sure.” What it really was, Sam says later at tribal, is that it’s a social game and he just wasn’t willing to hold rice from everyone for his own benefit because it would have been a social suicide.
This opens us up for some pure immunity, idols, and numbers gameplay. No wacky twists, no lost votes — just pure Survivor. It’s all about getting the votes and delivering them now. I love it.
Balls
Wait, wait, wait. They’re balancing balls on something while balancing on something themselves?!?!?!? How unique!!
I mean, come on. How many times are we going to balance balls while balancing? It’s not even entertaining. It’s sort of entertaining the first time, palatable the second, but by the third or fourth time let’s just wrap it up.
I also want to mention, we’ve gone a long time post-merge without a puzzle. This has both benefited and hurt Kyle (who won individual immunity again). By taking out puzzles, it has allowed him to dominate. In the process, it has put a target on his back for being a challenge threat because he is so dominant in the physical aspects of challenges — though not as strong as a Rachel or Caroline on puzzles. This also sets up an expected return to the status quo for the later merge immunities, putting Kyle at a disadvantage in these challenges when immunity matters even more, and not exactly taking the target off his back.
The real “G”
Before tribal and heading into the vote, the debate was whether Genevieve or Gabe were going home. Both were seen as threats, and there were enough willing votes to probably knock off either of them. Genevieve raised her threat level too high by voting off Sol too early — as noted by Gabe in the episode — and Gabe has the physical threat and appearance of leading the Tuku four. Not to mention, Kyle winning immunity in a spot where a Tuku was likely to get picked off was a nail in Gabe’s coffin.
The editors did the thing where they make you guess who people are voting for by showing the players writing a “G” and fading it out before you know which G-name they’re voting for. For a moment, it looked to be Genevieve, but it was Gabe who was sent home. He delivered his best Terminator impression, saying “I’ll be back” at his torch snuff before being sent down the lane to his final confessional.
I’m noticing
I’m noticing things again. Here’s some random things I noticed, either for fun or things that may be foreshadowing what’s to come.
“You and balls Jeff, I swear”
SOL = SLAY on the jury walk in
The jury walk-in is back. It was back last week, and I love it.
“Got a little snake in ya?”- Gabe said to Caroline when they hugged and left
This is good for her game actually in the jury’s eyes she may have some agency
Genevieve “works her poison,” per Sam
Sam is indifferent to Kiwi
Just a reminder: Sue and Rachel have idols
Power Rankings
Andy (+2)
Rachel (+2)
Caroline (-2)
Sue (-2)
Sam (+2)
Genevieve
Teeny (+2)
Kyle
X - Gabe (Previous rank: 5 — but I’m mad at myself because I had him last in the power rankings two episodes in a row and just moved him up last week)
Biggest Winners
I’ll address the coconut in the room, yes I have Andy as my top spot. I debated Andy or Rachel for a while. Rachel has a secret idol and I’m bought into her challenge ability with more puzzles inevitably coming down the pipe, but Andy has solidified himself as a non-threat. I think by doing that — and building these relationships — Andy will be able to manage to reach the end, picking up the right moves on the way, and be amenable to the jury. Rachel has a certain threat level others are aware of that may lead to her being taken out. My other big winner is Sam. He feels like he’s managed to find a foothold in the game. He may not be in pole position, but he’s no longer dangling.
Biggest Losers
Kyle is actually my biggest loser. Flat out: he’s cooked. He is seen as a jury threat and a physical threat, and he has someone left in the game who genuinely seems to hate him. He’s lost his shield in Gabe, and with some individual immunity challenges that aren’t lent as well to his balance and nimble athleticism, he may be an obvious target. People definitely will take the shot when they get the chance because they don’t feel like they can beat him at the end and aren’t sure when they’ll get another shot.
The other biggest loser is Sue. She lost who she considered her number one ally, was on the wrong side of the vote, and doesn’t seem to be taken very seriously by her peers. She could get taken to the end, but at this point it will be as a goat. It behooves Caroline to keep her around because she can claim any move Sue has made and more.